The best news in Latin America business in 2020.

BY LATINVEX EDITORS

The best events in Latin American business this year, according to Latinvex editors.

#1 Brazil IPO Boom

Despite COVID-19 and an economic crisis, Brazil this year saw a boom in initial public offers – most recently the $2.2 billion IPO of Brazilian hospital company Rede D'Or São Luiz -- the largest IPO in Brazil since 2013.

The boom has been largely spurred by historically low interest rates that have attracted local investors to the stock market. In fact, this boom has largely been driven by local rather than foreign investors.

Initial expectations for a record year gradually damned as many planned IPOs were shelved due to oversupply of offers.

Yet, there is no doubt that the many IPOs this year were a welcome surprise amidst the pandemic and related negative impact on the economy. 

#2 USMCA Implemented

On July 1, 2020 the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) entered into force and replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been in place since January 1994.

Despite criticism that USMCA is actually worse than NAFTA, many see it as better than the alternative – no U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, as could well have been the result thanks to the anti-NAFTA and anti-Mexico bias and protectionist policies of President Donald Trump.

#3 Brazil Recovers Faster Than Expected

Brazil’s economy has been recovering much faster than expected.

Brazil surprised analysts with stronger-than-expected employment and budget numbers for October, a sign that the economic recovery seen in the past few months is gaining speed in the beginning of the fourth quarter, Bloomberg reported.

The key auto sector has also fared better than initially feared.